Nic ached everywhere. Even breathing hurt as the iron continued its relentless march through his system.

This time, Blaer had made sure he couldn’t escape. She’d tossed him into the boat and ’ported somewhere. He’d tried to make himself move, but he was too weak. By the time he’d managed to pull himself up on the seat, she’d returned with an iron cuff. She snapped it around his right wrist and locked it to the boat rail.

“Why?” he asked as she anchored the boat near the den’s entrance. “This isn’t about that night we spent together?”

“No.” Her scarlet mouth quirked. “You were good, but not that good.”

He grimaced. Thank Deus for small mercies.

“Then this is because I’m a dragon. But how did you know? I bought the best available glamour.”

“I didn’t know—not that night. But I sensed you were using a glamour, and I guessed you might be a do Rio. You’re not the only brother who keeps sniffing around, seeking answers about Ula and Nisio.”

“Because they’re our parents,” he said between clenched teeth, “and the king kidnapped them once and trapped them in one of his damned illusions.” His parents had wandered in a white mist for over a week until they’d gone half-mad from sensory deprivation. “Who’s to say he didn’t do it a second time?”

The fae’s smile was enigmatic. “You’d do anything to know what really happened, wouldn’t you?”

A growl filled his throat. Inside, his dragon lashed its tail.

Blaer leaned back against the console, arms folded over her chest. “I was curious about who you really were. So after you fell asleep, I hid a tracking device in your backpack. I followed you to Ireland, and found out you were the grandson of the alpha, and Nisio and Ula’s middle child. I have a spy or two in the Shannon base. I asked them to keep an eye on you.”

“The dead dolphin,” Nic muttered.

“He was young, and easily persuaded.” Blaer moved her shoulders in a tiny shrug. “Then I heard rumors of a sea dragon, and put two and two together. But I lost you when you left Ireland.”

“The backpack fell apart. I bought a new one from a Shannon seamstress.”

“So you never found the device. I didn’t think you had—I wove it into the fabric—but I wondered.”

“But why go after me? Your magic is useless against an adult dragon.”

She smiled. “I’ll have centuries to study you. I have men constructing an iron cage back in Iceland.”

The full horror of what Blaer had planned for him slammed into Nic. “Try it, and you’re dead,” he gritted. “I don’t know how or when, but you…will…die.”

“Then I’ll have to make sure you stay locked in your cage.”

His nostrils flared. His left hand twitched on his thigh, his fingers itching to wrap around her throat.

“My spies told me you’d impregnated a Shannon female. It was just possible you’d passed on your sea dragon genes. I’ve been keeping an eye on little Rianna ever since she was born.”

“Mãe de Deus.” If only he’d known. He narrowed his eyes. “You can’t hold me forever. You’ll slip up, and then I’ll slit your fucking throat.”

Blaer’s smile was as cold as the Arctic tundra from which her people had sprung. “I won’t have to. You’re going to sacrifice yourself—or your mate and daughter will die.”

“Like hell I will. They’re safely hidden. If you knew where they were, you’d already have them. And if you go inside the den, you’re dead.”

He bared his teeth at her. Stalemate.

Blaer considered him, and then turned to scan the cavern entrance.

He drew in a breath. He had one last bargaining chip. Like dragons, the fae had a weakness for shiny things.

“What if I give you my treasure?”

Her attention snapped back to him. “I’m listening.”

He knew his dragon was staring out of his eyes. Giving up the treasure would be like ripping off a limb, but the dragon was in full agreement—no payment was too great to ensure Cassidy and Rianna’s safety.

Blaer blinked, but held his gaze. “Well?”

“A lot of ships went down in this area. I’ve had several years to comb through the wrecks. I found diamonds, rubies, Spanish doubloons—gold and jewels that would be worth millions in the human world.”

“Where is this treasure?”

A cold satisfaction curled through him. He’d hooked her. Now to reel her in.

“A place where you’d never find it. And don’t bother trying to capture one of my men and torture the information out of him. No one but me knows where it is.”

The fae considered him, and then shook her head. “It’s tempting, but no. You alone are worth a thousand times that, and if I had your daughter, too…” She trailed off, leaving him to glare at her.

“Wrong answer,” he advised in his dragon’s chilly rasp. “Take my offer, otherwise you’re dead.”

“Says the man wearing my collar,” she sneered.

Their eyes locked. Nic’s claws pricked out of his fingertips. Could he lure her close enough to tear out her throat?

Then Cassidy appeared in the bright yellow kayak, and Blaer’s attention turned to her.

A giant fist clamped around Nic’s lungs. What in Hades was she doing?

He glared at Cassidy—and the mate bond chose that moment to burst fully to life. He felt her love, coupled with a steely determination to save him.

“No,” he roared through the bond.

She faltered. Their eyes locked.

“Where’s the girl?” Blaer demanded. When Cassidy didn’t respond, she asked again.

She raised the silver blade in her hand and smirked at Nic.

Could silver cut him in his human form? If only he knew more about a dragon’s special powers. But in the eight decades he’d been alive, the only other dragon he’d met had been an old, bearded Chinese male who’d jealously guarded his territory. He’d tolerated Nic for a day before ordering him to leave.

But he scented Blaer’s uncertainty. She didn’t know the truth any more than he did.

“No!” he begged Cassidy. “Don’t come…any closer, querida. It’s a bluff.”

The fae lady flicked her fingers and the collar tightened around his neck, searing into his flesh like a fiery brand.

He growled and set his jaw. “Go,” he mouthed at her. “Please.”

To his despair, Cassidy put her head down and resumed paddling.

Didn’t she realize that to Blaer she was a fucking pawn? The fae bitch wouldn’t hesitate to torture her to get to Rianna.

And why was Cassidy in a kayak, anyway? Why not swim to the boat as her dolphin?

Then he saw the mako fin cutting through the ocean toward the boat.

He stilled. Could this be some insane rescue attempt?

A few seconds later, he heard a splash in the water behind him, so quiet only a fada would’ve detected it, followed by the faint scrabble of claws against the hull.

Ben. He recognized the fada’s distinctive earthy scent.

So Cassidy was a distraction, and Marlin must be with Rianna.

What were they up to? His fists clenched. He hated being in the dark like this.

A wave of nausea hit him. Blaer had loosened the collar again, but it had eaten through his skin, and his right wrist felt like it was on fire. He ignored the pain to gather his last bit of energy. If a rescue attempt was underway, he’d help any way he could.

Blaer raised a hand and blasted magic at Cassidy. A shimmering noose snaked around her neck.

His gutsy mate lifted her chin. “Get it off”—she tapped the magical rope as if it were nothing—"or you’ll never find my daughter.”

Blaer’s mouth curved. “How do you know I haven’t already tracked her?”

She phrased it as a question, so it wasn’t a lie, even if it wasn’t the truth either. A typical fae trick.

And Cassidy knew it, too. Her fingers tightened on the paddle. “Don’t play your bloody games with me. If you knew where she was, she’d be shackled next to her dad.”

Nic’s lips peeled in a feral smile. That was his woman.

“You’ll tell me.” Blaer narrowed her eyes. Magic shivered in the air…a night fae’s dark magic.

Cassidy flinched. Nic’s jaw tightened. He could only guess what bleak thoughts Blaer had pulled from her.

But not even the most powerful fae could draw on their magic indefinitely. Sweat gleamed on Blaer’s forehead, and her mouth pressed into a thin line. The silver knife had vanished.

His heart gave a hard rap. Blaer was juggling too much. She was heading for a crash.

Cassidy shook her head. “You’re not a mother, are you?”

“What?” The fae lady frowned. But Cassidy had clearly pricked her curiosity, and perhaps she was almost out of juice. For whatever reason, Blaer dropped her hand and the magical rope evaporated.

Cassidy paddled the last few yards to the boat’s port side. Standing up, she leapt for the rail and pulled herself lithely onto the boat. The two women squared off in the cockpit.

Behind Nic, Joe had shifted and joined Ben. He had a dagger in his hand, and as Nic glanced down, Ben handed him another. Joe put the second dagger between his teeth, and the two of them clung to the stern just above the waterline.

Then everything seemed to happen at once.

Cassidy moved like lightning, grabbing Blaer’s long hair and jerking back her head. She set an iron dagger to her throat. “Let. My mate. Go.”

Blaer set her hands on Cassidy’s shoulders. Cassidy jerked as Blaer muttered something in an arcane fae language—and then froze. Literally. Ice formed in her short red hair and glittered on her eyelashes as a white frost spread over her skin.

Nic’s heart stopped.

Joe exploded into action, swarming over the side of the boat with Ben’s huge cougar right behind. Ben leapt over Blaer and Cassidy to land on the bow and spun to face them. Long canines appeared as the cougar roared in Blaer’s face.

Joe touched the dagger tip to the catch of Nic’s wrist shackle. The shackle released.

“How the hell did you figure that out?” Nic jerked his hand free.

“A fae shackled me once.”

Adrenalin surged through Nic. He vaulted over the seat to reach the two women, Joe right behind him. Somehow Cassidy hung onto Blaer, pressing the blade deeper into her throat, while at the same time, Blaer drained Cassidy’s life-energy.

“Don’t!” Joe grabbed Nic’s arm. “Every time we get closer, she sucks more energy from Cassidy.”

Nic gulped and nodded. Ben was still on the bow in his cougar form, his quartz glowing on his furred chest. The three of them formed a tight circle around the women.

Nic dragged in a breath and managed to speak calmly. “You’re out of options, Blaer. Set her free, and we’ll let you live.”

The fae lady slanted him a glance, her eyes black holes in her pale face. “Stay where you are.”

The hell with negotiating. Nic jerked Cassidy away and thrust her behind him.

Her breath wheezed in. He sensed her sinking onto the seat as if her legs wouldn’t hold her, but his gaze was on Blaer.

Joe had a knife to her carotid now.

Unafraid, Blaer stared past him at Nic. “Kill me, and you’ll never know what happened to Ula and Nisio.”

“I can live with that.”

“Even if your parents are alive?”

His heart thumped. “What do you know?”

She ignored him to stroke a long finger down Joe’s cheek. “Drop the dagger, love. I know who you are. I could use a man like you.”

The mako’s expression didn’t change. “Then you know I’d as soon kill you as look at you.”

Her mouth twisted. “You’d die for him?”

“He’s clan.”

“It’s your funeral.” Blaer shrugged and removed her hand. “I’ll never understand you animals.”

Cassidy pushed herself back to standing. Nic wrapped an arm around her, shocked at how hard she trembled. “Are you all right?” he asked without taking his gaze from Blaer.

“I’ve been better.” She burrowed against him, teeth chattering. “B-but you can’t let J-joe kill her. Not if she t-truly knows something about your p-parents.”

“They’d understand.” But he hesitated, his stomach roiling at such an impossible choice.

“Make her s-swear an oath: she g-gives us information about y-your parents and g-guarantees our safety in return for her life. You know she c-can’t break an oath without g-great harm to herself.”

Blaer raised a brow. “Your mate is smarter than she looks.”

Nic ground his teeth. They had her. A word from him, and Joe would slit her throat, ensuring Rianna and Cassidy’s safety. And he was expected to let her go?

But how could he leave his parents trapped in a living hell?

Cassidy said nothing, simply set a hand on his chest, silently offering support. Joe and Ben waited unmoving. Everyone knew it was his call.

He growled and gave in. “Swear it,” he gritted at Blaer. “Swear that you’ll leave California and never come near the island again. Swear that Rianna and all the other fada in this den will be safe from you forever. You’ll tell no one that the two of us are sea dragons.”

“I so swear.” Blaer repeated the words.

“And take off the bloody collar,” Cassidy said.

The fae set her jaw.

“Do it.” Joe pressed the dagger deeper. A drop of blood welled on Blaer’s white throat.

She snarled and flicked her fingers, and the collar expanded. Nic flung it into the water.

“I’ll have the same oath from you,” said Blaer. “I don’t want you hunting me down.”

“Done.” Nic said the words, adding, “Unless you break your oath to us.”

“And your men.”

Nic jerked his chin, and Joe swore the same oath. Ben-the-cougar merely nodded his big head, but they all knew he’d be bound by the oath as well.

“Now tell me,” Nic demanded. “What do you know about my parents?”

“First, have your man get that damned dagger away from my throat.” It was the first sign the mixed-blood wasn’t as calm as she appeared.

Nic nodded, and Joe stepped back.

Her mouth twitched in a tiny smile. “They’re adorning the ice fae court. You didn’t see them at the May Day ritual?” The air around her shimmered.

Nic’s mouth slackened. “Wait. What the fuck do you mean?” He lunged at her, but the air twisted and his hands closed on nothing.

The tall blond fae was gone.

They gazed around at each other.

“Holy mother.” Cassidy shook her head. “Adorning the ice fae court? Figures a fae would answer with a feckin’ riddle.”

“They’re alive.” Tears pricked Nic’s eyes. He squeezed Cassidy’s shoulders. “She admitted it. The king has always refused to discuss it. I have to tell my brothers and sister. They’re alive,” he repeated thickly. “I knew it.”

“And it’s a clue.” Cassidy hugged him. “We’ll figure it out.”

Nic shook his head, still dazed at the knowledge that his mom and dad were alive. They’d all but given up hope.

But the fae couldn’t lie.

“And now that we know for sure,” he said, “we can focus our search on Iceland.”

Joe stroked the steering wheel of the powerboat. “And we got a sweet boat out of the deal.”

Nic gave a bark of laughter, and then they were all grinning like maniacs, even Ben-the-cougar.

Cassidy gave a hard shiver, and Nic swore under his breath. “I’m getting you back to the den.”

“Put me down,” she protested as he swung her into his arms. “You’re not strong enough.”

“Like hell.” He leapt into the ocean, shifting to his dragon in mid-air.

Fada healed faster in their animal forms. The magic of the shift healed the worst of his burns immediately, and helped counteract the iron’s poisonous effects. But Cassidy was right, he was too weak to be doing this.

He set his jaw and with a dozen powerful strokes, swam to the entrance and through the tunnel where he set Cassidy on the dining hall’s stone floor before shifting back to man.

He climbed out of the water next to her and stood with his hands on his thighs, breathing hard, while Cassidy fussed over him.

“Men! Didn’t I tell you that you weren’t strong enough?”

He pushed himself upright and showed her his injured hands. “The shift healed them over, though.” It would take days until the iron worked its way out of his system, but a thin skin had formed over the raw wounds.

She took one of his hands in hers and placed a careful kiss on his palm. “Oh, Nic. I was afraid I’d never see you again.”

He dragged her into his arms. “I’m afraid you’re stuck with me, querida. I’m mate-claiming you.”

Her ocean-colored eyes were bright with joy. “And I accept.”

He gave her a quick but heartfelt kiss to seal the deal and then looked around. “Where’s Rianna?”

“In your quarters.”

He pulled on a pair of shorts and they hurried down the stone corridor. As they entered the bedroom, Cassidy called out Marlin and Rianna’s names. “We’re back! You can come out now.”

The navy blue water rippled. Marlin surfaced first and shifted. He turned and waited as Rianna scrambled out of the pool behind him, still in her sea dragon form, a handful of jewelry in her right paw.

He grinned. His little dragon had sniffed out his treasure chest.

She let out a trumpet of delight at seeing them. Setting her treasure at the pool’s edge, she shifted to human. “Mam! Daddy!” Her little legs churned as she dashed across the floor. “You’re back!”

Cassidy swung her into her arms. Rianna twined herself around her mother like a human vine and they both burst into tears.

“Easy there. Calm yourself.” Nic enfolded them both in a hug and pressed a kiss to Rianna’s soft cheek. “Everything’s all right now.”

Marlin clapped him on the back as Joe and Ben entered the room, everyone back in their human forms, and it turned into a group hug, their animals needing the reassurance of touch.

Marlin was the first to step back. “When’s the mating ceremony—and where?”

Nic looked at Cassidy. “You’ll have to ask my mate.”

“Here, of course.” Her dazzling smile encompassed all four men. “As soon as we can arrange it.”